Floranova is pleased to announce that a brand new, purpose built research station will be built in Chile in early 2016 and will be operational by mid-2016. Chile provides a climate and day-length very similar to that experienced in California, enabling plant breeding to be just as effective. Furthermore, Chile has become a very important production territory for Floranova and there are significant advantages in being able to select for quantitative traits in the production environment. Bringing research and production closer together will enable Floranova to speed up the product development process and enhance the effectiveness of bringing new crops to market. As well as the obvious advantages of moving to a brand new site, the relocation to the southern hemisphere gives tremendous synergy to Floranova’s global research activity due to the contra-season opportunities between Chile and the other two main breeding stations based in Europe and Asia.
As a result of the new development the current research station located in Lompoc, CA will be closed in a phased plan during 2016 and the research programs transitioned to the new station in Chile. Paul Talmadge, Director of Research, will oversee the relocation and will relocate to Chile by the end of 2016.
Due to the ongoing site closure, Floranova & Vegetalis will not participate in CAST 2016. This is only a short term measure and we fully intend to be back at a new location for CAST 2017.
Key personnel currently based out of the Lompoc, CA office will remain at the site until March 2017 after which time they will relocate to new offices in the central coast area. The distribution & sales office in Pierceton, IN will continue to operate as usual.
Source: Floranova
